It’s back to school season, and we’re always thinking about how the kitchen is the heart of the home for most families. However, without thoughtful design, it could be the heart of chaos in the mornings and homework time! We want this space streamlined to work with us, and our kiddos, to get out the door and arrive home with less stress.
Image credit: https://neatmethod.com/locations/pa/philadelphia
Keeping kitchens breakfast and meal-prep friendly is essential for a good start to the day. Using drawers, or tall pantry cabinets with organizers makes it easy for you and your kids to assemble their meals. In one drawer, keep food containers, water bottles, and sandwich bags. In another drawer, keep pantry snacks organized and ready with drawer dividers.
If you have room, a separate undercounter refrigerator is the perfect spot to keep lunchboxes, healthy snacks, and the sports drinks you need to remember for soccer practice!
Image credit: https://www.instagram.com/southerneclectic.home/
A trash pullout cabinet is essential to keep things clean, and we’ve been installing a lot more with a built-in paper towel holder. This keeps the paper towels off the counter and more accessible for everyone to quickly clean up their spills.
Image credit: https://www.gracefullynested.com/
Many of us spent our afternoons at the kitchen table doing homework. There are lots of great ways to upgrade that experience to make those long nights with tricky math problems a breeze. I’m a broken record in saying that drawers are your best friend when it comes to keeping things organized. Having a drawer dedicated to school and craft supplies is game changing – so hopefully you won’t hear “where are the scissors?” as often.
Image credit: https://www.dockingdrawer.com/
One of my favorite kitchen upgrades right now is a large tech drawer with built-in outlets, so everyone is charged and ready to go to work and school, and we can hide those messy cords. We can also install electrical outlets by the kitchen table or island with USB-A and USB-C ports, so you don’t have to scramble to find the right charging cube.
Image credit: https://www.simplifycreateinspire.com/family-command-center-ideas/
A family command center is an awesome way to save space on the miscellaneous items you need every day within reach. Keep everyone in the loop on a family calendar, store important school documents and mail, create grocery lists, or keep a chore chart.
Is your kitchen feeling a little chaotic right now? Which of these solutions would you like in your home?
Let me know how we can help! We have a great team ready to explore new designs with you (including yours truly!). There are endless possibilities to create the family kitchen of your dreams!
Hoping you and your family have a great school year!
Grace McKinley | [email protected]
